I enjoyed the last two (5 much more than 4 fwiw). I at least think both 4 and 5 were more entertaining overall than 2 for me, just wish it had more of the donut eating cop. 1 and 3 are still my favorites

Even though I've seen Live Free or Die Hard in theaters and on TV numerous times, I missed those two questions (3 and 7). I refused to see A Good Day to Die Hard earlier this year, and I'm not surprised the quiz doesn't reference it at all.

The original film -- if you're not seeing the near comically censored, sanitized version shown on basic cable seemingly every week -- still mostly holds up as well as the last couple of sequels don't. I actually saw Live Free or Die Hard a couple times in theaters and then got it on DVD but it doesn't just hold up well when I see it now.

I say Mostly (for Die Hard) because the FBI agents and the Idiot Police Captain (played by the guy who plays the obnoxious teacher in The Breakfast Club) are imho a little too conveniently, utterly idiotic. If somebody did a reboot, I'd tweak those characters a bit.

With the sequels, I boil it down mostly to the sequels Trying Too HardTM to Top Die HardTM, and forgetting if you don't care about the characters, including the supporting characters, and you don't have a villain near as interesting as Alan Rickman's Gruber, then all the stunts, bullets and digital FX in the world won't make the audience get into the movie. It's like the directors keep thinking Die Hard is about more bullets and more explosions, rather than about characters first, suspense, and then all the pyrokinetics build off of that.

Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh sold a screenplay tentatively titled Simon Says to 20th Century Fox in 1992 or Ď93. The original screenplay was much like what we eventually saw in Die Hard With a Vengeance, except that Simonís motives would be exactly as they seemed, just seeking revenge (so basically the entire second half of the movie was unique to the Die Hard script). Hensleigh noted on the commentary for Die Hard With a Vengeance that the idea for the story came to him when he thought about an incident in his childhood when he had injured one of his friends. What if that friend had never gotten over it and sought revenge years later? That was the basic concept behind the script. Fox purchased the script with the intention of turning it into a starring vehicle for burgeoning star Brandon Lee, who had just made the action film Rapid Fire. It was a hit, and studio executives thought he was going to be a big deal. So they began negotiations on sequels to Rapid Fire as well as developing other starring vehicles for Lee, including Simon Says. The original screenplay would star a New York cop named Alex Bradshaw (played by Lee) with the character that became Zeus Carver being an African-American woman.

Tragically, Lee was killed in 1993 during the filming of The Crow. The script went back into the pile of available projects owned by Fox. It was still a well-regarded script, however, which is important when it comes to sequels, as you have to try to convince some of these stars to come back for another film when they really are not particularly interested in doing another sequel (Willis notably turned down a number of scripts for a third Die Hard during the early 1990s). So when Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver were looking to make a fourth Lethal Weapon, they contacted Fox and tried to buy the script. Thatís undoubtedly where the legend originates. However, the sale never actually occurred (they didnít end up finding a good enough script for Lethal Weapon 4 until 1998).

Eventually, director John McTiernan (the director of the first Die Hard film) discovered the script and adapted it into Die Hard With a Vengeance in 1995 (still at Fox).

So it was interesting in being seen as a vehicle for the late Brandon Lee. And maybe at this point Fox should stop trying to get Die Hard scripts done from the ground up -- maybe it's better at this point to just look at action scripts and find one that's Good, and then see if it can be tweaked to work as a Die Hard movie.

I saw A Good Day to Die Hard while on the plane and while it was enjoyable, it definitely falls into both those categories BJ. it also harkens back to DHWaV (3) with a similar action. the enemies only stand out in one way in that the main bad guy looks like The Most Interesting Man in the World.

maybe it's better at this point to just look at action scripts and find one that's Good, and then see if it can be tweaked to work as a Die Hard movie.

Die Hard 4 Whatever also didn't start out as a Die Hard script. The original was a book, so maybe that's why it's the only really good one. The book was a sequel (there were lots of name changes and stuff), and interestingly enough, the not-John Mclain role in the movie adaptation of that prequel book was Frank Sinatra.

Die Hard 4 Whatever also didn't start out as a Die Hard script. The original was a book, so maybe that's why it's the only really good one. The book was a sequel (there were lots of name changes and stuff), and interestingly enough, the not-John Mclain role in the movie adaptation of that prequel book was Frank Sinatra.

odd, did not know that. although I question the bolded part. I like the first one and the third one most.